Rail connector



w. H. KIRKWOQD. RAIL CONNECTOR. APPLICATION HLED OCT. 29, 192l- Patented May 30, 1922.

my,'/ar v I UNITE "WILLIAM H. KIRKWOOD, or KITTANNING, PENNSYLVANIA.

RAIL CONNECTOR.

, Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented May 30,1922.

Application filed October 29, 1921. Serial No. 511,484.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, WILLIAM H. Kinn- WOOD, a citizen of the UnitedStates, residing at Kittanning, in the county of Armstrong and State ofPennsylvania, have invented a new and useful Improvement in BallConnectors, of which improvement the following is a specification.

My invention relates to improvements 1n rail joints. The object of theinvention is to produce a rail joint which in effect forms a continuousrail, also a rail joint whlch may be used with efficiency without theuse of fish plates.

I accomplish these purposes by means of the device hereinafterspecifically descrlbed, reference being had to the accompanying drawingsforming part hereof, in which Fig. l is a perspective elevation of my1mproved rail joint.

Figs. 2 and 3 are respect vely side eleva-' tions of the interlockingmembers before assemblage.

Fig. 1 is a bottom plan vlew.

Fig 5 is a section on line VV of Fig. 1.

Referring to said drawings; 1, 2 are respectively the adjacent ends oftwo rails which are respectively provided with interlocking means whichinclude a tapering recess or slot 3 formed in the head of the rail 2longitudinally thereof, and a correspondingly shaped tongue 4 formed onthe head of the adjacent rail 1 and adapted to be inserted within saidslot, as shown in the drawings, forming practically a con tinuous rail.The Web of rail 2 is cut away immediately below and on a vertical planewith said slot 3, the remaining portion (1 thereof being provided with anotch 5; the web of said rail 1 being cut away lmmediatelyabove theflange 6, leaving a portion Z2, which is provided with a prong or.member 7, adapted to be inserted in sald notch 5, interlocking the endsof said rail as shown in the drawing, the contacting surfaces of thewebs being correspondingly lncllned and forming, when assembled, aneatjoint. The flange 6 of rail 1 is provided wlth a slot 8, which issubstantially equal in length to the tongue 4, the sides of said slotbeing pro- I vided with prongs 9, 10 on opposite sides, the prongQ'being somewhat in advance of such point.

' the further is slightly elevated above the prong 10. The flange 11 ofrail ,2 is provided wth an extension 12 corresponding in shape with saidslot 8, and is adapted to be inserted therein and is provided withnotches 13 on opposite sides, adapted to receive the prongs 9 and 10,whereby in conjunction with the interlockingmembers on the head and websof the rails, as heretofore described, a very eflicientinterlock isformed between the abutting ends of the rails and forming a continuousjoint The rails l and are preferably provided with to receive bolts 15for ing fish plates l6, l7

2 may be and bolt holes 14 the purpose of fastenat the joint andfor andperfect joint at suchpoint.

The manner of assembling the joint is as follows; rail 2 being securedto the ties, rail 1 plane of rail 2 and the end thereof is forced towardthe" end of rail 2 until the prong 7 is in position to engage in notch5, section 1 is then dropped purpose of making a very stable.

practically at and all the interlocking parts engaged and form asubstantially continuous rail and rail joint.

Having claim and Patent is:

described my invention, what I desire to secure by Letters In acontinuous rail j ointth'e combination of the adjacent ends of two railsprovided -with interlocking means, which includes a,

tongue comprising the end portion of the head of one of said rails, theweb having a portion. cut away on the lower side thereof and a slotformed in the base flange; the head of the adjacentrail having a slotand the web a cut away portion on the upper side and an extension on thebase flange, the web of the last mentioned rail having a notch, and theweb of the adjacent rail a prong, the projection and prong of one railbeing adapted to engage in the corresponding slot or recess on theadjacentrail forming a substantially continuous rail joint.

In testimony whereof, I have hereunto signed my name in the presence oftwo subscribing witnesses.

. 'WILLIAM H. KIRKWOOD.

In the presence of- I e JOHN H. RONEY,

. CLARENCE A. WILLIAMS.

